Guest Post: Don’t Stop Writing

     What-ho! It’s been far too long since I’ve done a post, and I’ve made many promises that I still intend to keep, but it may take longer than anticipated. (Real-Life has a way of getting in the way of things, if you catch my meaning.)

    But anyhow, I have a special treat today—the lovely Hannah Ruth of Faith, Fiction, and Fairytales has agreed to do a post-swap with me (despite my busy schedule and unfortunate habit of procrastinating). So thank you, Hannah Ruth, for your graciousness and fantastic advice in this post! (You can find my swapped post at this link.)

    Without further ado, here ‘tis…

    Hello, all! I’m Hannah Ruth from Faith, Fiction, & Fairytales, and I am so honored to share a post here! Today I want to take a moment to offer some tips and encouragement for beginning writers… and if you’ve been doing this thing for a while, these are for you too!

If you are among those who have dedicated hours upon hours to your writing, all while wondering if it will ever see the light of day, know you are not alone. And know, too, that what you are doing… this writing and working and waiting… it has purpose. 

If nothing else, I hope you walk away from this post inspired. What you’re doing matters, so don’t you dare hang up your writing hat.

1. There is no “arriving” in writing. Practice makes better!

2. Every draft you write gets you closer to a published manuscript.

3. It’s a hard thing you’re doing.

4. Criticism can make or break you.

5. Use the waiting to your advantage.

6. Just because you’re stuck now doesn’t mean it will always be this way.

7. If God’s put it on your heart, you’d better get it on paper.

I think we all have this notion that someday, somehow, we’ll make it… we’ll be a real writer. We’ll have the education, the understanding, the practical skills… and our writing will be fantastic!

I always find it interesting when teens or young adults want to be writers, have spent a lot of time writing short stories or maybe even working on novels, but then will say something like, “Yeah, this is what I want to pursue in college, so maybe once I have a degree I can get published!" 

 

Um, what? 

Education is great. There is such a wealth of information out there from other writers and from professionals on the subject, and they can teach us a lot about methods for plotting, how to fully develop our characters, and any number of specific topics. But a college degree won’t make you a good writer—you know what will?

Writing.

Plain and simple.

So what you’re doing right now? It may not feel like you’re working toward something serious. But “getting serious” about writing doesn’t have to be a future thing. It doesn’t have to wait for adulthood or a degree or anything for that matter. It’s just waiting on you, and on your writing. Becoming a good and confident writer is all about discovering your own methods and tendencies, and working to improve your writing.

As a yet unpublished author (other than a few short pieces), I have many, many manuscripts under my belt. Some decent… some embarrassing… some unfinished… etc. And while many of those aren’t my pride and joy, nor have any of them found a home, they are valid and important parts of my journey.

It’s incredibly discouraging to write when we think the story will never get published—I feel that 100%. It makes it hard to keep going, to not give up. But when we keep going, we get to learn how to build a story. How to bring a plot from start to end. How to develop our characters over the entire novel. All things that are incredibly hard to learn with just beginnings.

So keep writing! Finish that manuscript, even if it seems like a lost cause. It may not be published, but it will teach you important lessons.

Walk into a library, and you’ll see abundant books. Authors who have multiple shelves. So many people have gotten their books published. Surely it was easy for them… how would there be so many books in the world if it was this hard for everyone?

Don’t believe the lie that you’re the only one fighting writer’s block… that you’re the only one working on the same project for years… that you’re the only one wishing this was a smidge easier.

Writing is hard. And I think it’s meant to be that way. It’s the very outpouring of our souls. It’s the invention of worlds, of people, of lives. It’s powerful, and it has the opportunity to touch many. So let’s embrace the struggle!

Criticism is an easy reason to quit, and if there are people in your life who discourage your writing, I am so sorry. If someone is constantly down on you and what you’re writing, it can be incredibly hard to keep going.

Even if someone just has specific feedback on things you could improve, things you’re *gasp* doing wrong, it can be hard to swallow. And let’s be honest… sometimes pride makes it easier to just quit.

But stick it out. Take criticism as an opportunity to better your writing and your craft. Allow it to prune you rather than cut you down entirely. Keep going. That’s the only way to get better!

When you’ve got a manuscript in the query trenches, it can be easy to invest your whole self into seeing it published. Sometimes it seems like your entire publishing future is in that one story.

(I hope your lie detector is going off)

Your publishing future is so much bigger than a single manuscript. A great way to get your mind out of the query trenches (and to invest in your real publishing future) is to start a new project.

Here’s the truth of the matter… we’re all going to write manuscripts that never make it into our hands. And that’s okay. It’s part of the process. If you keep writing, you create more opportunities for publication… and, yet again, you have the chance to practice your craft.

When school started in August, I was at about 90K words of a 100K goal for a novel I’m working on. And, I’ll be honest… I was stuck. See, my plot outline was fantastic right until the very end, and then I had to flex my writerly genius.

My writerly genius was feeling pretty wimpy.

So I dove into school and homework and classes and the busyness of life, and it’s gotten me pretty far. I was kind of ignoring the fact that I had an unfinished manuscript sitting in my files… and then, out of nowhere, inspiration struck. I got the piece to connect what I had written to the ending I envisioned.

And, voila! The words started flowing again!

 

All this to say… it’s okay to take a break. But don’t give up on yourself or your project! Sometimes time and space is exactly what you need to find inspiration. Sticky situations don’t last forever. Make sure to give yourself margin.

More than anything, you and I need to hold ourselves to this—because God has given us gifts… and we’d better be putting them to use!

If you have the imagination to create worlds, create worlds! If you have the gentle wisdom to write inspiring fiction, write it! Use your skills and develop them. Bring Him into your writing process; ask him to inspire you and to give you His ideas. He will. Time and again, I’ve found the inspiration to pour out thousands of words.

Writing isn’t just a hobby, though it certainly is that too. For many of us, it’s a calling. Don’t lose sight of that!

 In conclusion…

I hope this post has inspired you to keep writing, even when it gets hard. Being an author isn’t easy—not by a long shot—but it’s certainly a worthy calling. It will feel like failure, time and again, but I believe wholeheartedly that you and I will make it to the other side someday—if we’re willing to stick it out.

Thank you so much for letting me stop by today and share my piece, and happy writing!

What do you do when you struggle to find motivation to write? Is writing a hobby for you, or a calling? What resources have you found that have helped improve your writing?